This video story is produced and reported by Hannah Halili. The web version was written by Jorgelina Manna-Rea.
The Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) is bringing a futuristic touch to the world of medical training.
This division of USF Health, located in downtown Tampa, is allowing students to practice certain medical procedures like taking measurements of vitals, performing surgeries and other forms of direct patient care on “robot mannequins.”
While they may not have a heartbeat, the mannequins can still talk, breathe and blink. Students also perform procedures on the mannequins in rooms that resemble health care settings where the procedures would be done in real-time.
“For pharmacy and for everyone else within USF Health, they have to be able to learn these skills, because ultimately, at the end of it all, this pandemic is going to go away. And they have to be effective doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other public health providers,” said CAMLS’ Director of Sales, Marketing and Business Development Paul Ayres.
All kinds of health professionals are encouraged to visit CAMLS in case they are in need of some renewed practice.
Local high school students are also allowed to visit the center to watch the use of robotic mannequins. One Tampa Preparatory School student, Adam Thompson, said it opened his eyes to see how the worlds of robotics and health care can intersect.
“I’ve been interested in robotics for a good while. So, seeing that that has applications in the medical field in which it can really, really help people, it’s a good thing to know that if I do enter in robotics, it’s not just going to be a whole bunch of trivial stuff,” said Thompson. “I could actually help, really help people.”
